Mafia Island · Tanzania · Wall · Reef
Jina Wall
A vertical face with shallow caverns, 8 m to 26 m
Area photo: brittonpaul83 · CC BY-SA 2.0
Jina Wall lies off the northern tip of Jina Island and ranges from 8 m down to 26 m. It is a small vertical wall cut with shallow caverns and overhangs, bottoming out in a gravel field, so the dive combines a proper vertical face with a defined floor to turn the profile on.
Where it is and how deep
7.9218° S, 39.8245° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The site sits at the northern tip of Jina Island. You descend the face to its base, where the wall bottoms out in a gravel field at around 26 m. That gravel is the depth limit and a useful visual marker: once you are on it you know exactly where you are on the site, and the rest of the dive is spent giving depth back rather than taking it.
Run the foot of the wall in one direction while you have no-stop time to spend, then step up the face in stages. The wall is small but genuinely vertical and is cut with shallow caverns and overhangs, which are worth approaching from below with a torch since the light drops sharply under them. Above them the ground shallows to 8 m at the top of the site, and the last part of the dive and the safety stop both pass along that shallow rim.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime |
Season follows Mafia Island: Whale shark season peaks October-March; the March-May long rains bring rougher seas and reduced visibility.
Know before you go
- The shallow caverns and overhangs are overhead environments in miniature: keep an exit in sight, watch your fins for silt and do not push into anything you cannot back out of.
- The wall reaches 26 m, so plan gas for a deep start and a staged ascent along the face rather than a direct return to the boat.
Questions divers ask
How deep is Jina Wall?+
The site ranges from 8 m at the top to 26 m, where the vertical face bottoms out in a gravel field. That depth puts it beyond a comfortable Open Water profile for most divers.
Sources
- Jina Wall - Scubago — Scubago
More dive sites in Mafia Island
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Reef
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Wall
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Coral garden
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Channel & pass
The channel through the centre of Chole Bay, dived as a drift
Drift
A drift along a coloured coral slope to 25 m
Similar dives elsewhere
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